THE Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies have all but guaranteed their place in the Twenty20 finals, after recording two strong wins on Saturday. After opening their account with a win against Bomaderry last weekend, Glenn Brandon’s Magpies chalked up another two wins at the Berry Sports Complex. In their first match of the day, the Magpies faced a Nowra outfit, who were left reeling after a one-run defeat the day before. The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first – seeing them post 85 from their 19.5 overs at the crease. Leading with the way with the willow was Jordan Pearson (35), and Lewis O’Brien (12), while Daniel Troy (2/10), Aaron McElhinney (2/10) and Tom Dougall (2/24) claimed two scalps for the hosts. The final two wickets were shared by Tom Gibbs (1/7) and Nathan Thomas (1/15). In reply, the hosts reached the target (6/88) in the 16th over, thanks to a classy 34 not out from Daniel Troy. Glenn Brandon (18) and John Ulrick (13) also reached double figures for Berry, while Lewis O’Brien (1/4), Jono King (1/9) and Jason Bell (1/14) took wickets for Nowra. Berry backed up this win with a 35-run victory against North Nowra-Cambewarra at the same venue. The hosts won the toss and chose to bat first on their home deck. Behind 52 from Daniel Troy, 32 from Nathan Thomas and 27 from Glenn Brandon, the Magpies reached 7/143 from their 20 overs. With the white ball, Ben Seyffer (3/16) and Damian Spelta (3/23) both starred – with Justin Weller (1/19) also bowling well. In reply, Norths batsmen failed to fire, finishing their allocated overs at 3/108 – with Graham Davidson (32 not out), Justin Weller (30) and Shane Bell (22 not out) all producing handy knocks. With the ball, Daniel Troy (1/8), Aaron McElhinney (1/9) and Tom Gibbs (1/18) all claimed wickets in their fourth straight win. The weekend marked a special occasion for Glenn Brandon’s side, with all 11 players being Magpies products. Brandon, Nathan Thomas, Daniel Troy, Dale Lovatt, Aaron McElhinney, Tom Gibbs, Callum Crapp, John Ulrick, Jeff Dudgeon and Tom Dougall are all Berry juniors while David Crapp joined the club in the mid-1990s and now has four children play for the club. “To have a full team, and a strong team at that, to all be former juniors of our club, with the exception of Dave Crapp, who’s been with us for 25 years, is very proud moment for the club and speaks to the culture we have,” Brandon said.

The weekend marked a special occasion for Glenn Brandon’s side, with all 11 players being Magpies products.

Brandon, Nathan Thomas, Daniel Troy, Dale Lovatt, Aaron McElhinney, Tom Gibbs, Callum Crapp, John Ulrick, Jeff Dudgeon and Tom Dougall are all Berry juniors while David Crapp joined the club in the mid-1990s and now has four children play for the club.

“To have a full team, and a strong team at that, to all be former juniors of our club, with the exception of Dave Crapp, who’s been with us for 25 years, is very proud moment for the club and speaks to the culture we have,” Brandon said.